List of presidents of Israel

Last updated

This article lists the presidents of the Provisional State Council and Presidents of Israel since the adoption of the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948.

Contents

Presidents of the Provisional State Council (1948–1949)

Colour key
Mapai General Zionists

The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine.

As President of the Provisional State Council, the interim legislative and executive authority that served until the formation of Israel's provisional government, Chaim Weizmann served as the de facto head of state until his election as President of Israel in 1949.

PresidentsElected
(term)
No.PortraitName
(Lifespan)
Term of officePolitical party
(at time of appointment)
1 David Ben-Gurion (D597-087).jpg David Ben-Gurion
דוד בן-גוריון
(1886–1973)
14 May 194816 May 1948 Mapai
2 Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - President Chaim Weizmann.jpg Chaim Weizmann
חיים עזריאל ויצמן
(1874–1952)
16 May 194817 February 1949 General Zionists

Presidents of Israel (1949–present)

Colour key
General Zionists Mapai Alignment/Labor Likud Kadima

Eleven people have served as President of Israel, four of whom have served two consecutive terms and one, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, was elected to three consecutive terms, although he died in office soon after the beginning of his third term.

Isaac Herzog has been serving as the 11th President of Israel since 2021.

PresidentElected
(term)
No.PortraitName
(Lifespan)
Term of officePolitical party
(at time of appointment)
1 Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - President Chaim Weizmann.jpg Chaim Weizmann
חיים עזריאל ויצמן
(1874–1952)
17 February 194925 November 1951 General Zionists 1949 (1st)
25 November 19519 November 1952 1951 (2nd)
Yosef Sprinzak.jpg Yosef Sprinzak
יוסף שפרינצק
(1885–1959)
Acting
9 November 195216 December 1952 Mapai
2 Yitzhak Ben-Zvi.jpg Yitzhak Ben-Zvi
יצחק בן צבי
(1884–1963)
16 December 195230 October 1957 [1] Mapai 1952 (3rd)
30 October 195730 October 1962 1957 (4th)
30 October 196223 April 1963 1962 (5th)
Kadish Luz.jpg Kadish Luz
קדיש לוז
(1895–1972)
Acting
23 April 196321 May 1963Mapai
3 Portrait of Zalman Shazar.jpg Zalman Shazar
זלמן שז"ר
(1889–1974)
21 May 196326 March 1968Mapai 1963 (6th)
26 March 196824 May 1973 1968 (7th)
4 Ephraim Katzir visited the Tel Aviv Wax Museum (cropped).jpg Ephraim Katzir
אפרים קציר
(1916–2009)
24 May 197329 May 1978 Alignment
Labor
1973 (8th)
5 Portrait of MP Yitzhak Navon.jpg Yitzhak Navon
יצחק נבון
(1921–2015)
29 May 19785 May 1983Alignment
Labor
1978 (9th)
6 Chaim herzog.jpeg Chaim Herzog
חיים הרצוג
(1918–1997)
5 May 198323 February 1988Alignment
Labor
1983 (10th)
23 February 198813 May 1993 1988 (11th)
7 Ezer Weizman 9.jpg Ezer Weizman
עזר ויצמן
(1924–2005)
13 May 19934 March 1998 Labor 1993 (12th)
4 March 199813 July 2000 1998 (13th)
Avraham Burg by David Shankbone.jpg Avraham Burg
אברהם בורג
(born 1955)
Acting
13 July 20001 August 2000 One Israel
Labor
8 Moshe Katsav.jpg Moshe Katsav
משה קצב
(born 1945)
1 August 20001 July 2007 Likud 2000 (14th)
Dalya Itzik 1.png Dalia Itzik
דליה איציק
(born 1952)
Acting
1 July 200715 July 2007 Kadima
9 Shimon Peres 2010.jpg Shimon Peres
שמעון פרס
(1923–2016)
15 July 200724 July 2014Kadima 2007 (15th)
10 Reuven Rivlin as the president of Israel.jpg Reuven Rivlin
ראובן ריבלין
(born 1939)
24 July 20147 July 2021Likud 2014 (16th)
11 Isaac Herzog, July 2021 (D1233-049).JPG Isaac Herzog
יצחק "בוז׳י" הרצוג
(born 1960)
7 July 2021(Term expires in 2028)Labor 2021 (17th)

Notes

  1. ^ David Ben-Gurion preceded Weizmann as Chairman of Provisional State Council, a position which he held from 14 to 16 or 17 May 1948. Weizmann's position remained as Chairman of Provisional State Council until 17 February 1949, when he was declared President by the first Knesset. Upon Weizmann's death on 9 November 1952, Knesset Speaker Yosef Sprinzak took over as Acting President of Israel until the inauguration of Yitzhak Ben-Zvi.
  2. ^ Upon Ben-Zvi's death on 23 April 1963, Knesset Speaker Kadish Luz took over as Acting President of Israel until the appointment of Zalman Shazar.
  3. ^ After Weizman resigned from the presidency, Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg took over as Acting President of Israel until the appointment of Moshe Katsav.
  4. ^ After Katsav began a leave of absence due to police investigations on 25 January 2007, Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik took over as Acting President of Israel. She continued in this role after Katsav's resignation came into effect on 1 July 2007 until Shimon Peres's inauguration on 15 July.
  5. ^ Majalli Wahabi served as Acting President while Dalia Itzik was travelling to the United States. He thus become the first Druze and non-Jew to serve as Acting President of Israel.

Timeline

Isaac HerzogReuven RivlinShimon PeresMoshe KatsavEzer WeizmanChaim HerzogYitzhak NavonEphraim KatzirZalman ShazarYitzhak Ben-ZviChaim WeizmannDavid Ben-GurionList of presidents of Israel

Main biographical data

No.NameDate of birthDate of deathPlace of birthPlace of deathPlace of burial
1 Chaim Weizmann 27 November 18749 November 1952 Motal,
Russian Empire
Romanov Flag.svg
Rehovot
Flag of Israel.svg
Rehovot [2]
Flag of Israel.svg
2 Yitzhak Ben-Zvi 24 November 188423 April 1963 Poltava,
Russian Empire
Flag of Russia.svg
Jerusalem
Flag of Israel.svg
Har HaMenuchot
Flag of Israel.svg
3 Zalman Shazar 24 November 18895 October 1974 Mir,
Russian Empire
Flag of Russia.svg
Jerusalem
Flag of Israel.svg
Mount Herzl
Flag of Israel.svg
4 Ephraim Katzir 16 May 191630 May 2009 Kiev,
Russian Empire
Flag of Russia.svg
Rehovot
Flag of Israel.svg
Rehovot Cemetery
Flag of Israel.svg
5 Yitzhak Navon 9 April 19217 November 2015 Jerusalem,
Mandatory Palestine
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
Jerusalem
Flag of Israel.svg
Mount Herzl
Flag of Israel.svg [3]
6 Chaim Herzog 17 September 191817 April 1997 Belfast,
United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
Tel Aviv
Flag of Israel.svg
Mount Herzl
Flag of Israel.svg
7 Ezer Weizman 15 June 192424 April 2005 Tel Aviv,
Mandatory Palestine
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
Caesarea
Flag of Israel.svg
Or Akiva
Flag of Israel.svg
8 Moshe Katsav 5 December 1945 Yazd,
Pahlavi Iran
State Flag of Iran (1925).svg
9 Shimon Peres 2 August 192328 September 2016 Vishnyeva,
Poland
Flag of Poland.svg
Ramat Gan
Flag of Israel.svg
Mount Herzl
Flag of Israel.svg
10 Reuven Rivlin 9 September 1939Jerusalem,
Mandatory Palestine
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
11 Isaac Herzog 22 September 1960Tel Aviv,
Israel
Flag of Israel.svg

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. https://pdfs.jta.org/1957/1957-10-31_208.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  2. "Chaim Weizmann - First President of the State of Israel". president.gov.il. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  3. Lis, Jonathan (8 November 2015). "Yitzhak Navon, Israel's Fifth President, Laid to Rest at Jerusalem's Mt. Herzl Cemetery". Haaretz.